Sandy Lopez (Lisa Vidal) was an openly lesbian firefighter introduced as a recurring character in the eight season of long-running medical drama ER. She was first seen in “Partly Cloudy, Chance if Rain” (8×08) when she was stuck in a storm together with Dr. Kerry Weaver and another doctor, trying to save a pregnant woman out of a crashed ambulance. Sandy and Kerry developed a deep respect for each other after that. When Sandy showed up in ER for a cut hand, Kerry sutured her and then asked her out. They spent the night together and started to grow close.

Sandy told Kerry that she refused to date a woman who was in the closet. She then forcibly outed Kerry when she kissed her in front of all of Kerry’s co-workers at the hospital. Kerry was visibly upset at this and started yelling at Sandy, who yelled back that she “did [her] a favor”. The two of them reconciled in episode 17 and started a relationship. Three episodes later they made their first public appearance as a couple at an ER-event. Sandy and Kerry’s relationship was also the first time a lesbian couple received similar treatment to the straight couples on ER, as Sandy and Kerry were allowed to show more affection and kiss, which previous characters hadn’t done.

Sandy and Kerry continued their relationship throughout all of season 9, however, their relationship took a step back again as Sandy only made three appearances during the season, and only for a few minutes each. In episode 7, Sandy appeared briefly at the end of the episode to walk Kerry home from the hospital. The two of them then told one of Kerry’s co-workers that Kerry was pregnant. In episode 11, Sandy and Kerry were shown setting up the baby nursery before Kerry had a miscarriage later that day. Sandy’s last appearance in the season was in episode 15, when she and Kerry were talking about getting pregnant again and Kerry asked Sandy to carry the baby instead. Sandy, however, did not want to get pregnant as it would impact her career as a firefighter, and the two argued over the issue.

Sandy then managed to hit two of the most common lesbian tropes during the tenth season of the show. First, when she without explanation changed her mind about getting pregnant and gave birth to the couple’s son Henry, who was born prematurely and had to spend some time in the hospital. Then when she, shortly after giving birth, was killed in a fire while out on a call, leaving Kerry to battle for custody over Henry with Sandy’s disapproving parents.

Appearances:

12 episodes.

Female love interests:

Kerry Weaver (Laura Innes, lesbian, regular)

Relationship story arc with a woman: Yes

No male love interests

Relationship story arc with a man: No

Male love interest after being identified as a lesbian? No

Filter Relationship Arc:

Storyline during sweeps? Yes, most impotant relationship milestones happend during a sweeps period

[1] A relationship story arc is defined as explicit, developed on screen, and lasting more than 3 episodes. It is listed as questionable or subtext if romance is only implied, mentioned instead of shown on screen, part of a dream sequence, or otherwise not explicit for the viewer.[2] Sweeps episodes air in February, May, July and November, the periods when advertising rates are set. A character is marked as "sweeps" when there is a very limited number of episodes that address their sexuality, all air during sweeps period, and the storyline is otherwise ignore/dropped.